Was leaked information the reason Helmin Wiels was assassinated?
May 2, 2023 –WILLEMSTAD – May 5 marks 10 years since Helmin Wiels was assassinated at Marie Pampoen beach. Three people received convictions for his murder and all three verdicts were confirmed by the Court of Appeals. 10 years after his passing, everything surrounding his life has changed.
Betty da Fonte, Helmin Wiels’ partner, left Curaçao and went to live in Madeira. The couple shared a house in Seru Loraweg. She is now living close to her siblings on the Portuguese island. Pueblo Soberano, the party that Wiels co-founded and led, lost all seats in parliament and political power. 10 years later, almost nothing remains of what Wiels left behind.
Despite the three convictions, it has never been made clear what the motive was for killing the popular political leader. Secret conversations between Wiels and the Investigation Team RST were mentioned in court. It was revealed that Helmin Wiels was an informant for RST and that he gave tips to the justice department about underground criminal activities, including that of the deceased Luigi Florentina. The role of the late politician and the tips he gave became a key point to determine if Wiels was a “tipgever” or informant for RST. In court, this discussion arose again. The only organization that Wiels trusted with this information was RST. According to one of the witnesses in the case, Mr. Lieshout, this information was leaked to the underworld.
The leaked information that had been kept secret for almost 9 years could be one of the reasons why Helmin Wiels was assassinated. The court suspected and mentioned in its verdict that it was the underworld that had killed Wiels. This was an important piece of information to compare with the testimony given by Lieshout, who also confirmed during the trial that Wiels had provided tips on people involved in organized crime. In his verdict, Lieshout confirmed in the Maximus case that Helmin Wiels had spoken about justice and provided tips on actors in the underworld, including the late Luigi Florentina. This information is valuable because the Public Prosecutor’s Office always denied it as truth. Later, prosecutor Gert Rip admitted that Wiels had spoken with the RST.
In fact, a person who Wiels had spoken to was likely the former head of the RST, Eric K. There had always been suspicion that this official had knowledge of Wiels’ testimony, but a verbal process was never initiated. In a very mysterious way, Eric K became Nelson Navarro’s advisor after Wiels was assassinated. Navarro never understood how Eric K, who had been the head of the RST until the days when Wiels was killed, became his advisor afterwards. The decision to make Eric K Navarro’s advisor, according to another former Minister of Justice, Kade Wilsoe, was one made by Helmin Wiels. Wiels had spoken to Eric K about his new position after he was removed as team leader at the RST. According to Wilsoe, Helmin Wiels confirmed the reason why Eric K was talking to him. Wiels told Wilsoe that Eric K wanted a position as a ministerial advisor. At that time, Pueblo Soberano no longer had the justice portfolio.
The rumors that Wiels was talking to RST and Erik K. fell into the criminal group of watch thieves. Nevertheless, for that reason, it is impossible to separate Wiels’ murder from the watch thefts. The court also tried to find the connection during the trials. According to Prosecutor Gert Rip, the planning for Wiels’ murder started on June 2, 2012. On that day, there was a watch robbery at the mall of the Renaissance Hotel. Deceased Pretu Florentina was suspected to be involved in the robbery. Florentina’s group suspected that Wiels was talking to RST about the robbery. The leak happened because an RST official leaked it to one of his mistresses, who was in contact with members of the Florentina organization until she disappeared. Mr. Lieshout mentioned and confirmed that there must have been a “leak.” And it was solely this leak that led to Helmin Wiels’ death.
